Meta to Debut Smart Glasses at September’s ‘Connect’ Event

Meta reportedly plans to introduce its new smart glasses at next month’s “Connect” conference.

Those glasses, Meta’s first to feature a consumer-ready display, will be announced at the annual conference along with a wristband that lets users control the glasses via hand gestures, CNBC reported Friday (Aug. 22), citing sources familiar with the matter.

The glasses, codenamed “Hypernova” inside Meta, will include a small digital display in the right lens, the sources said. While this will be the company’s first pair of smart glasses with a display, Meta is keeping its sales expectations low, sources told CNBC.

The reason? The device needs more components than its voice-only predecessors and will be somewhat heavier and thicker. The Connect conference is scheduled for Sept. 17 and 18. PYMNTS has contacted Meta for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

The report follows news from last week about the company’s plans for Hypernova , as well as Meta’s intent to price them at $800 instead of the initial target of $1,000. Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses are priced at $200 to $400, while its Oakley smart glasses sell for up to $500.

A report from Bloomberg News said the glasses would feature a screen for apps and alerts on one lens, while also mentioning the planned wrist control device.

And a report last week from CNET said that while the Hypernova smart glasses are designed to be used with a mobile phone, they hint at a future when glasses could supplant phones.

There are also rumors that Hypernova could have a smartphone-quality camera and a voice-activated artificial intelligence query tool, Frederick Stanbrell , head of wearables for EMEA at IDC , said in an interview with CNET.

“We are likely seeing the first generation of a device that Mark Zuckerberg intends to one day replace phones,” Stanbrell said.

Meta’s partner on the Ray-Ban glasses, EssilorLuxottica, said last month that the sales had jumped by more than 200% in the first six months of the year.

Meanwhile, Google is working on its own smart glasses in partnership with eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker , with the goal of making them an ever-present artificial intelligence (AI) assistant.

“What if your AI assistant could see the world from your perspective and offer hands-free help? That’s the vision driving our latest advancements in Android XR,” Shahram Izadi, vice president and general manager of Android XR at Google, said in May.